A Mother's Tale
by Garnet Wings
Summary: Ever wonder where Sarah's mother went? Why she never calls or visits, or why Jareth is so interested in Sarah? Well, it's a complicated situation. When did the Underground become a family affair? And why must Sarah go back? non-J/S. AU. DISCONTINUED
1. A Coming Out Party

A Mother's Tale

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the original characters!

Not a J/S! An exploration of a bizarre alternative explanation for the events of Labyrinth.

Summary: Ever wonder where Sarah's mother disappeared to? Why she never calls or visits, or maybe why Jareth is so interested in Sarah? Well, it's sort of a sticky situation. When did the Underground become a family affair?

A Coming Out Party

1

* * *

Sarah was blowing out the candles, more for Toby's enjoyment then her own, on the modest birthday cake that marked her entrance to adulthood.

Irene, Sarah's stepmother, quickly plucked the eighteen cooling wax sticks from the cake and plunged a knife into the fluffy dessert enthusiastically. Sarah's father, Robert, had Toby slung on his hip, partly so the four year old could see the table top dessert, and partly to keep him from snatching at the cake with his eager fingers prematurely.

"Happy birthday Sarah!" Toby squealed as he wriggled down from his father's arms and bounced into Sarah's warm embrace.

She hoisted him into the air, wiggling him playfully as she lowered him down to cradle on her hip. "Can you guess what flavor it is?" she quizzed, rubbing her nose against his in an Eskimo kiss as she stealthily shifted so that the little scoundrel was facing away from the dissected cake as he tried to steal a peek.

He turned back to her guiltily and giggled, twirling a strand of her hair in his tiny sausage fingers, trying to distract her from his failed attempt to cheat. "Chocolate?"

"Chocolate?! That's your favorite not mine!" she teased.

"So?" he mumbled, not seeing how that could affect the decision.

Sarah laughed and bounced him over to his chair, ruffling his shiny, straw colored hair as he cried out in joy upon seeing that the cake was indeed a rich chocolate brown under the white frosting cloak.

Robert smiled at his children's exchange and pulled Sarah's chair out for her, leaning over and whispering in her ear as she sat. "You don't always have to get the cake that _he'll_ like best you know. It's your birthday."

She nodded and smiled up at him ruefully. "I know, but I like doing it this way. I want him to always be happy to be my baby brother."

He raised an eyebrows at the odd statement as he moved around to his own seat. "I'm sure he always will be."

She smiled and watched her family enjoy themselves. She absentmindedly fingered a gift she'd been given earlier that day, a silver necklace with a delicate wire twined into a sphere encasing a dangling crystal. She'd done everything she could to needle it out of them, but her parents wouldn't say which one of them had given it to her.

-

Sarah lay back on her bed that evening trying to digest the rich cake, worried about upsetting her full stomach and not wanting to aggravate her head's sensitive state. She'd started her birthday with a bizarre killer headache and had almost canceled the family's trip to the fair, but luckily it had eased quickly and they'd been able to go.

The pain had surprised her since it had been a long time since she'd gotten any sort of headache. She ate well and her life wasn't particularly stressful, but now that she thought about it she'd felt a little off all day. Like she had an itch she couldn't scratch, and it was in her mind.

She sighed and got up. It was late now and everyone else was asleep so she couldn't go to them to distract her. She wandered around the dark house until she was spooked by a soft, tickling touch stroking her cheek. Tumbling back she stifled a shriek, thinking she'd walked into a spider web and not wanting to wake the house. Groping the wall until she found the light switch, she flicked it on and sighed as she saw the drawstring hanging from the ceiling. The house had an old fashioned pull down staircase that led to the attic. It was unusual for the string to dangle like that since her father usually had it taped out of the way. She was about to disregard it and continue her walk when she impulsively changed her mind and decided to yank the string and bring the stairs down. They lowered with a soft groan of straining wood and Sarah carefully stood on the first step to test her weight, she'd been a lot smaller the last time she'd used these. Finding the stairs to be as sturdy as always, she crept up them into the musty attic. Finding the flashlight her father kept near the entrance, she clicked it on and swept the yellow beam around the dusty room until it landed on the only source of permanent light the room had, an antique lamp.

Moving towards it and turning it on, she gazed around at the few boxes and baby paraphernalia left over from Toby's diaper years scattered around the room. Most of the boxes had uninteresting labels like 'clothes' or 'dishes' but one caught her eye. Running a finger over the dusty tape, she saw that it was labeled 'Linda'.

Mom had a box up here? Hastily she carried it over to the coffee table in the corner and dragged them both to sit under the lamp's glow. Pressing the flaps of cardboard out of the way, she found it to be filled with an odd assortment of knickknacks, playbills and letters. Grabbing the topmost letter she looked for a name but the envelope was blank, taking the letter out, she read the tiny slip of paper so small it was hardly worth the envelope.

_Robert, I just know you'll like him! He's wonderful and he treats me so well. He reminds me so much of the man from my youth. Be a dear and come visit me in the city this week and see what you think! I'm sure you will be delighted._

_Love Linda_

Sarah wasn't sure what to think about what she'd just read. It sounded rather like her mother was writing to her father about some man she had feelings for, but that couldn't be right. She tucked the note away and took another letter out, this one marked with a later date than the first.

_Robert, my dear, I know this is an awful thing to ask so soon after the joyous miracle of life, but ask it I must. You are my dearest and only friend. Please take my precious child and care for her since I cannot. I want her to live comfortably with a stable life, which is not an assured thing where I must return to. I grow sicker with every day I stay here so I must go as soon as is possible. _

_Care for her, love her, do not tell her._

_Your friend, _

_Linda_

Sarah's eyes were wide as she read the note over again. Is this about me? No it couldn't be. It was nothing like the story her father had told her over the years when ever she'd missed her mother and had asked about her. She'd been told that Linda had gotten anxious to travel after a tedious labor and long recovery spent in a hospital after Sarah's birth. She'd followed her dream of acting, moving to London to pursue a career in theater. Details had always been shaky past that point. Why didn't she write, or call, or visit? They were all questions that were only ever answered with a sad shake of her father's head, and a tight hug.

She looked back to one line in particular. _I grow sicker every day. _Sarah's heart throbbed, could her mother possibly be dead? Had she been lied to so as to avoid the pain of that loss? No, her mother was _not _dead. Then could she be out there somewhere fighting a horrific illness to this day?

Her finger tips felt cold so she lay the paper down and rubbed them together, eyes closed tight, imagining all the horrible things that might be the reason for these lies.

"Sarah?"

Her body went rigid for a moment in surprise, but it was just her father. "Dad."

"What are you doing up here? I thought you were a burglar." He scolded as he came to crouch beside her, noticing her pallid face. "What's wrong?"

"I -" she sighed and picked up the note. "Is mom dead?" she blurted.

Her father's eyes widened and he took the note, forehead creasing as he read.

He sighed. "She's not dead Sarah, she's just… gone."

Sarah huffed, "I know she's gone, but it's not London is it? She's not off acting with some theater company; it says she was sick when she left. You're hiding the truth from me, it even says so!" She took the note and waved it around.

Her father shook his head slowly and cleared the clutter from the coffee table, sitting to face her. He took her free hand in his and squeezed. "Your mother was sick, she had to leave, she didn't have a choice."

"I know dad, you're just repeating what's written in the letter."

His hands patted her's unconsciously. "I know, I just don't know how to tell you. It's a very strange, probably unbelievable story."

"Just tell me," she pleaded softly.

He smiled finally and cupped her cheek. "You are a sweet and caring daughter and I will always be here if you need me, but the truth is I'm not your biological father."

Sarah froze, staring at the man she had idolized as her father, her human teddy bear, for her entire existence. He looked so sad now. His face usually held an older version of Toby's bubbly expression.

"I was just a good friend of your mother's, I'd know her for years but suddenly she disappeared. Then one day out of the blue she was back again and pregnant. Then, soon after you were born she grew sick and had to live in a place… a place where they had the proper ability to treat her, so she went to live there with your biological father."

"Who is he?!"

His eyes darted around in a panic, then suddenly focused decisively on a spot on the wall. "I only met him once, he's a handsome man, though you don't look anything like him." He mused, "He was some sort of big wig in a company that made high end crystal or leather wear, I'm not sure which."

Sarah struggled to picture the man but all she saw was her father- um… Robert, her mother's close friend.

"You have a picture of him you know."

Her head jerked up.

"On your vanity, Linda told me not to let you see, but I thought you should know his face, even if you didn't know what he is to you."

Sarah gasped and dashed from the room, intent on the picture she knew must be the one he was talking about.

"Careful!" The man who was not her father called worriedly after her.

She slowed at the shaky attic steps but sped up once on the solid hallway floor. When she reached her room she almost broke a fingernail trying to claw the picture from the mirror's frame. She brought it close to her eyes, examining the man's face.

She heard someone at the door and saw Robert, the man who was not her father, but who she loved like one, smile apprehensively at her. She turned back to the old photo, her stomach feeling queasy.

The stranger was handsome and tall, but so was her mother, they stood with their faces close, strong affection for each other evident from their expressions. She'd been told he was a co-star in one of her mother's plays. Sarah had been told a lot of things.

Now she really looked at him, not through eyes clouded by imagination and admiration, but with cold analytical scrutiny.

His face suddenly changed in her eyes, as if beginning to clear. It was a face she'd gazed on her entire life, but now it was becoming something else, a face that was familiar for a different reason. Her heart thumped as it swelled in her throat. There must be some mistake. Jareth's face was what looked back up at her. The Goblin King was her father?

She dropped the photo like it burned, after a moment's hesitation she ran to embrace Robert, the man who was not her father, but the only man she could accept as her father, the man she desperately wished was her father, and cried.

* * *

A/N: So what do you think? Totally bizarre right!? This isn't going to be a long story, nor a J/S, but please read anyway~

R/R!


	2. A Reunion Party

A Reunion Party

2

* * *

Sarah woke to bright morning light. She stretched her arms and was surprised to find a resistance against her left hand. Opening her eyes a crack, she saw that her father… she meant Robert… no, her father was holding her hand. He was hunched over the side of her bed, forehead pressed to the mattress.

She looked up as her door slowly opened and Irene peeked in. "Oh, you're awake dear, that's good." She came over and set a platter of food down on the foot of Sarah's bed and rested her hand on her ankle, squeezing comfortingly. "Your father told me about last night. Are you alright?"

Sarah nodded mutely, uncomfortable with the fact that Irene knew, it made it all seem more real. She slipped her hand out from under her father's and sat up, pulling the tray into her lap. Irene gently pulled the sleeping man up from his hunched position, the strain on his muscles must have reacted because he groaned and pressed a hand to his back.

"Ah, I'm stiff," he moaned.

Irene chuckled and patted his back. "That'll teach you."

The two smiled tenderly at each other and Sarah felt left out. Now that she knew she had no blood connection to these people she suddenly felt like an intruder, an outsider.

Robert must have seen the expression and understood. He stiffly moved to sit next to her and embraced her. "You'll always be our Sarah, our daughter, and Toby will always love you as his older sister."

She nodded and picked at her food, not hugging him back.

He sighed. "You can go now, go see them."

Sarah pulled away and stared at him, bewildered.

"I was told that on your eighteenth birthday some sort of protection charm would break, allowing you to freely go to where they live... Well I guess I should explain... you see, they live in this place called-"

"The Underground," she interrupted, "I know."

He let his arms drop, staring at her quizzically. "How do you know?"

She shook her head and hair swung down to curtain her face. "I just do," she whispered.

He nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I guess that must be part of the breaking of the spell," he mused.

"So I can go back now? No strings attached?"

"I think that's how it was explained to me."

"Then I will."

Robert nodded and glanced at Irene, they both looked worried.

"I don't know anything about this Underground place," Irene blurted out, "how can you be sure it's safe?"

"It's not safe, but I have a feeling nothing's going to bother me when I get there." Her voice was strained with anger, now that all prior pretenses were dropped, she was certain her apparent blood right would protect her. She was a princess now after all.

She gritted her teeth. She had gone through so much when she ran the Labyrinth. If that man was her father, then why would he do that to her? The constant scoldings made sense, maybe even the teasing, but all those times she could have seriously been injured? Who does that to their own daughter? It seemed she'd get the opportunity to find out.

-

Sarah stood on her door step waving goodbye to Toby as the small, blue bus packed with preschoolers pulled away from the curb. Toby waved calmly back, a serene child. That quality was part of the reason she'd been so frustrated that night three years ago, the night she'd wished him away. He had been such a peaceful, quiet baby until one day he suddenly seemed to never stop crying. He continued like that for a week until Sarah couldn't stand it and did the terrible deed. Then the moment the two returned Toby was suddenly back to his original tranquil personality, he hadn't had another fit since.

She was going back today, she wasn't sure how she'd do it, but she would. She felt ridiculous standing there in her room, not sure how to go about getting back to the Underground. She'd tried to think of a way to return, she considered wishing a pencil away, but she knew she'd feel ridiculous if it worked, she'd feel ridiculous even if it didn't work. As the minutes dragged on and no bright idea popped into her head, her mind wandered to something that was bothering her. She understood that her mother had been sick at the time, but why not bring infant Sarah along? Why leave her with a friend and run off with that man? Hadn't she been worth taking along?

As she remembered that man and that place, she fumed, when her anger grew strong enough that her fists clenched painfully, she said the only thing she could think of.

"Jareth you bastard come get me!"

Suddenly tendrils of cold air wrapped around her body, like tentacles they slowly encompassed her, up and around. She panicked as the rushing air sped up and constricted around her, smothering her face, stealing her breath. She felt like she was about to reach the end of her reserve oxygen when the wind vortex released with a sigh and she was left standing uncertainly in a silent stone room. She recognized it instantly as the throne room through which she'd once passed, though it looked different now. There were two thrones instead of one, and the whole place was much cleaner and more homely. There were crystal balls of varying sizes strategically placed around the room, reflecting the sun flowing in from the windows. The spheres rose up on little shelves protruding from the circular walls, the uppermost ones were huge and seemed to absorb the reflected light, emitting a soft glow that illuminated the ceiling.

Turning from the thrones she walked up out of the sunken middle of the room and to the window. The Labyrinth lay winding below her, pulsing with life. She could see walls moving and forming new paths, a few saddled creatures carrying goblin guards on patrol, and a sparse scattering of white dots that she assumed were frantic chickens. Sarah was surprised how nostalgic it all made her feel.

Pushing away from the window she gazed at the two staircases. Knowing the Escher room was at the end of the stairs leading up, she turned to take the ones to her left that led down. She raced down the spiral staircase under orbs of light that rimmed the walls. They would burst to life as she came close, and dim to nothing as she left them behind, giving her constant illumination to guide her hurried feet. She stopped to peak through the first doorway she came to, and found that it led down an empty hall. She knew she should enter and begin searching for her parents, but the need to flee overwhelmed her and she began sprinting down the stairs even faster. She breezed past the next landing, not bothering to stop. As she reached another doorway, she slowed, breathing heavily. She needed to calm down, there was nothing coming after her and this wasn't what she'd come here for. Walking the last few steps, she strode decisively into the hall. Not sure what to do when the first door was closed, she continued on, trying to gain the courage to knock on each passing door but failing every time. She eventually halted in surprise when she found a single open doorway.

A surprised, middle aged woman sat where she'd been speaking to a maid a moment before, now her attention was all on Sarah.

"Sarah?" she called, her warm voice hesitant.

Sarah's tongue felt thick and heavy in her mouth, her throat felt tight. The woman looked just like the picture she'd cherished for eighteen years. She wasn't dead, she didn't even look sick. Surprised at the relief easing through her, she forgot her earlier anger at being abandoned. She couldn't stop herself from suddenly bursting into tears, not having realized how much those thoughts of sickness and death had been weighing down her mind.

"Sarah!" The woman ran to her and cautiously hugged Sarah. It was the first time Linda had held her daughter since she was a newborn and she wasn't quite sure how to do it. She froze for a moment when Sarah wrapped quivering arms tightly around her torso, but eased as the girl sobbed into the crook of her neck. She cradled Sarah and rocked back and forth, making soothing sounds in her ear, suddenly feeling very at ease in the role of mother.

As Sarah's cries calmed into weak hiccups, the maid offered Linda a handkerchief, which she used to gently pat at the tear stains under her daughter's eyes when she finally pulled away.

"I know it's awful," Linda sighed, "But I'm so glad you're crying. I was sure you'd despise me." When she finished drying Sarah's tears, she folded the cloth and dabbed at her own tear tracks.

Sarah hiccuped. "There are a few things I need you to answer for me, but I don't hate you."

"Of course my dear." She slid an arm around Sarah's waist and led her to the small table she'd originally been sitting at. The maid pulled out a chair for Sarah and the two women sat facing each other.

"I suppose you already know quite a bit of the tale. I told Robert things would change when you turned eighteen and that he would need to explain them to you. I left it up to him how much of the truth he told you."

Sarah nodded, eyes down cast.

"And of course you already knew the world of the Underground, since you'd come here as a girl."

Sarah's head shot up. "You knew? You were here weren't you!?" Realization started as a seed in her eyes then bloomed across her face. Of course she knew, she lived here! Did that make her mother as guilty as Jareth for not helping her, for making her go through that horrible experience? She thought back to the two thrones. "You were hiding weren't you?" she accused.

Linda nodded sadly. "I had no choice. There was a restriction placed upon us that forbade us from meeting you before your eighteenth birthday or your claim to the throne would be eliminated. It's a vicious law, meant only to tempt me and your father into losing the throne to rivals at our weakest moments."

"My claim to the throne?" Sarah was dumbfounded

Linda nodded. "You are our daughter, the princess. This is your future kingdom my dear. Why do you think you have such an affinity for fairy tales? It's in your blood."

Sarah leaned forward and cradled her head in her hands. This was more complicated than she expected, and she'd been expecting a lot. First things first. "If we weren't supposed to meet, then why was I allowed to run the Labyrinth?"

"That was your father's cunning." She smiled sadly. "You know, we watched you growing up through his crystals, he was desperate to meet you since he never even got the chance to hold you when you were born. There was outrage among the other royal families about you when news of your existence spread. There had never been a coupling between the two worlds, never a mixing of the blood. Some were making accusations that you weren't capable of inheriting the throne, that your blood would be too weak. We were able to solidify your claim to the throne, but they restricted us, you had to be raised in the Aboveground and we couldn't let you know about us. It was to test you and see if you were strong enough even after eighteen years away. No one was sure what would be best for you, so they sent me Aboveground to give birth, but the thing is I couldn't stay even though I wanted to."

Sarah felt relieved, she hadn't been abandoned, but all of this other information was buzzing about her head.

Linda continued, "Jareth had to stay here and deal with the threats and unrest among the fey. He was devastated at missing your birth and managed to get through fifteen long years before his desperation to meet you became too much and he devised a way to see you that skirted around the rules. He sent goblins to tease Robert's son Toby until he cried, all in hopes that you'd wish him away."

Sarah gasped. "That's why Toby's personality was suddenly so irritable?! That's horrible!"

"Yes, but you must forgive him, it wasn't just his own desperation that drove him to it, but mine as well that added heat to the fire, and it worked. One very early morning, a goblin came running to us, yelling about how 'the princess is calling', Jareth had run to his crystal room and by the time I got there he had already gone to get you. I looked into a large crystal and saw him waiting outside your window. I didn't hear you say the words, but I knew you had when little Toby was suddenly in my arms. I couldn't watch anymore unfortunately because he was so fussy, so I took him to the baby room and put him to sleep. Since I knew that at any moment Jareth would bring you to the land outside the Labyrinth's walls, I sent the goblin to tell Hoggle you were coming."

"You know Hoggle?!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Yes I know him; he is a dear companion, though Jareth is annoyed by him because the dwarf seems to have a harmless crush on me."

Sarah nodded dumbly. Jareth had been especially rude to the dwarf she recalled. And if she remembered right, Hoggle had known her name without her having to tell him, she'd thought it was some sort of magic.

"Anyway," Linda continued. "I instructed Hoggle to help you as best he could. I knew Jareth would be in hot water when the other royals found out he'd brought you here, though they couldn't say we'd broken the agreement, since as far as anyone knew, you'd come on your own accord. But they would be watching us very closely, so Jareth wouldn't be able to help you or reveal his relationship to you at anytime, though he wanted to so badly. I was also immediately sent to the deeper reaches of the castle, where you would not find me even if you got inside."

Sarah bowed her head. It almost totally explained away why Jareth had treated her so cruelly when she'd run the labyrinth, but that didn't mean she forgave him. She thought back to all of the things he'd said, how he'd treated her. Even with all that nipping at his back, he had seemed especially cruel. She tried to put herself into his shoes, if it had been her and Toby, could she have acted so terribly towards him? No, she didn't think so. Too often she was paralyzed in distress when ever Toby was unhappy, a side effect of her guilt form those days. She sighed, maybe that wasn't a fair comparison after all.

She looked up at her mother, realizing the woman was waiting for her to finish her mind's drifting thoughts.

She grinned apologetically. "Sorry."

"Oh by no means should you be sorry, it's a lot to take in. Anyway, I like looking at you." She grinned cheekily, gazing at her daughter in such a loving way that Sarah blushed.

Sarah's eyes lowered, uncomfortable but pleased at the woman's attentions. Sarah's lowered eyes don't see her mother's eyes shift to a figure in the door way, arms crossed and smiling softly. In fact, she was so lost in her happy reunion that she didn't hear the tap of boots walk up behind her, but she did hear the voice.

"I have waited a long time to see the two of you together at last."

Sarah's back went painfully rigid, her arm tingled as hair stood on end, like a cat who's realized too late that the neighbor's dog has it cornered.

She abruptly pushed back her chair and faced him. In her memories he had been so frighteningly tall, but she stood almost eye to eye with him now. She didn't feel any one single emotion when she looked at him, her mind a smoothie of thoughts. Feelings of betrayal drifted to her mind, that point really was bothering her to no end.

"Why did you make her leave me?" She hissed quietly, not particularly wanting her mother to hear.

"I didn't Sarah."

"Yes you did!" she accused. "You made her sick somehow so she'd go to you and you kept her, you didn't let her bring me! You're the king aren't you? Shouldn't you be able to control your own kingdom? It sounds like they're the ones controlling you, stepping all over you, you even let them banish your own daughter!" Her voice was rising.

She heard her mother's chair scrape the floor, as she stood.

"It is a complicated situation, and I would never make Linda sick, I wouldn't do that."

She scoffed. "But you would steal small children, send little girls through dangerous labyrinths, and not tell them when you're their… their… You lie to them!"

He shook his head and smiled sadly. "I have never once lied to you, withheld information, yes, but never lied."

She shook her head and squeezed her fists together. She wanted to rip him to shreds, to shatter every crystal that had ever danced between his fingers. She looked up at him, anger giving her more courage than she'd had her entire trip through the Labyrinth. She noticed his eyes, they were eyes of a man filled with joy. He was happy. That can't be right, she was yelling at him and he was happy. Rage filled her and she finally gave in to her desire, throwing herself at him, pounding desperate fists into his chest. For a willowy man he was surprisingly solid and didn't budge under her relentless beating. She felt like she could have gone on forever, and that he would have let her, but Linda's soothing hands wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides. She made soft shushing sounds in Sarah's ears and rocked her. Sarah no longer blamed her mother for leaving her, she had a new target, but her mother had spent eighteen years with him and not her, which made her stomach roil. Shrugging from the woman's arms she backed away from both of them. Linda felt a sting from her rejection, but recaptured her hand, tightening her grip when she tried to slip it off.

"Come with me Sarah, I'll show you your room."

"You mean I'm staying here?" she gasped, her breathing heavy from the exertion of her fit.

"Of course! This is your home now."

She'd expected as much and had prepared herself for the possibility, but was surprised how unsure she felt about whether or not she was happy about it. As her mother guided her past Jareth she shot a seedy glare at his turned back, glad to see him rub his chest. She hoped it hurt like hell.

-

Linda was so distracted trying to get her daughter to think about something other than her hostility that she didn't notice Sarah's total lack of attention to her chatter. Sarah was too busy steaming to hear what her mother was saying.

"Your room is the floor below ours; I've been preparing it for years. I hope you like it."

Sarah was finally brought to attention as she heard this, soon after the pair stopped at a tiny landing. Sarah frowned. What would her room look like? It seemed it would be pretty paltry if the cramped landing was any indicator. Taking a deep breath she stepped forward and entered the room.

Vast, it was terrifically vast. Sarah dashed to one of the many gaping windows that spotted the round walls. She was thrillingly high up. Her room, she realized, must be close to the top of a spire. She laughed exuberantly; if she leaned out it was as if she was flying.

Her mother rested a nervous hand on her lower back, the wind was strong this high up and with so many uncovered windows it could flow unrestrained through the room. She was prepared to yank the oblivious girl back at any gust that threatened to sweep her daughter off her feet.

"This is magnificent," Sarah breathed.

Linda smiled. "You haven't even looked at the room yet."

Sarah shook her head dreamily. "With this view, it doesn't matter."

"Now see here, _I_ think I matter thank ya very much!" A disgruntled, familiar voice huffed.

Sarah spun around and Linda discreetly guided her daughter away from the enormous window.

"Hoggle!" Sarah ran to him, arms fastening around his neck.

Hoggle stiffened and awkwardly patted her back. "Well now, let's not get too excited and squeeze the poor Hoggle 'til he can't breathe."

Sarah leaned back on her heels and laced a finger through the bead bracelet she'd given him. "Why Hoggle, you sound as if you haven't missed me at all!" she teased, tugging on the plastic beads.

He started blinking rapidly, mouth moving in silent gasping motions, flustered.

Sarah laughed.

Hoggle noticed her voice was deeper than it had been three years ago, throatier, more like a woman's, a lot like her mother's in fact. He blushed at that thought and peaked around the girl to her mother. Sarah noticed and laughed some more.

"So it's true."

His attention shot back to her. "W-what is?!"

She just grinned and shook her head. "How have you been Hoggle, and Sir Didymus and Ludo?"

"Fine, just fine," he huffed.

A thought struck her. "Did they know who I was back then?"

"Those lunkers? A 'course not, took me fa'ever to convince them that Jareth hadn't turned ya into a goblin or somethin' when ya disappeared in the castle. I'm sure they'll be stoppin' by sometimes, well maybe not. Sir Didymus isn't allowed to come here, his hair smells you know."

She nodded her head, she hadn't noticed any smell before but she'd come right out of the bog.

Linda laughed. "I'm sure you'll meet all your old friends in due time, but right now you need to settle in. We also need to get ready to introduce you to the people of the kingdom; you'll need to prove yourself to their doubting minds."

Sarah sighed, feeling uneasy about meeting the people that seemed so eager to get rid of her. "Sounds like fun."

* * *

Please R/R! A/N: I just want to give major thanks to anyone who's giving this story a chance!


	3. Trials of an Unwanted Heir Apparent

Trials of an Unwanted Heir Apparent

3

* * *

"It shouldn't be too hard, you did win the Labyrinth after all, even the court had to admit that you won fairly. I'm sure, however, that they've devised a few tests for you anyway."

Sarah felt a lump develop in her throat as she was fitted for a dress more in tune with the Underground's sense of fashion. Something light, that wouldn't restrict her movement since apparently her trial by the joined royal court had to be immediately after her arrival, no preparation allowed. The trial would test her natural born skill, if she had any. Sarah seriously doubted that she did. Never in her life had she done anything magical, or particularly impressive for that matter. How could she withstand a test thrown at her by magical beings when she knew almost nothing about this place or the magic that helped it to breathe?

She pressed her hand into her gut to stifle her writhing insides. Linda gently pulled Sarah down from the pedestal and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she guided her wordlessly out to the carriage that would take them to the courts.

-

Sarah stood on a dais rimmed by judges that appraised her with curiosity and contempt. Sunlight falling from the opaque domed ceiling felt like a spotlight, and left much of the audience in murky shadows. The circular stage was large, the remaining space in the room was a sliver running around the rim, meaning the large number of people that had come to gawk at her had been turned away, not because the other royals didn't want the added pressure on her, but because they couldn't fit.

Eventually the few observers allowed in quieted and Sarah knew her trial was about to begin.

"We have waited a long time to finally meet you Sarah. Your birth was quite a shock to us and I'm sure you can understand why we decided what we did about having you spend your childhood in the Aboveground." The woman speaking grinned with weakly hidden malice.

Sarah's face tightened but she didn't glare at the simpering elderly woman. One of the few pieces of advice her mother had been able to provide her with was to keep her emotions under control. She had to be calm and take what they threw at her, anything they threw, and the judges would be throwing more than put-downs and insults.

The row of four judges each took turns to have a verbal jab at her, some with skilled poisonous words, and surprisingly, others with more curiosity than dislike. One man was even smiling at her. A rambunctious, unabashed smile on the face of an older gentleman with ruffled blond curls and a mustache that dripped down from the corners of his mouth. He was the last one to speak and what came out of his mouth shocked Sarah.

"Welcome home young lady."

Sarah just stared wide eyed as hissing from the other judges erupted.

"Oh don't be like this Sigmund!"

"Come off it old boy don't you know who you're talking to, how can you be like this?"

Sigmund guffawed and motioned that he had no intention to change his statement and that they should move on.

The whispering died down and the eldest woman, the one Sarah already knew would be her biggest obstacle, began to speak again.

"I'm sure you've been told why you are here before us. I have waited eighteen years for this so let's not waste a single moment more. Prove yourself to us."

With a flick of her scrawny wrist, Sarah plunged into freezing water. She flailed in panic and confusion, trying to find the surface, but light was coming from every direction. Trying to swim, she felt weighed down and saw water nymphs entangling their scaly limbs together with hers. She screamed and her breath rushed out in bubbles. Panicked for a moment thinking she'd signed her own death ticket by exhaling what oxygen she'd had left, she realized her air bubbles had floated away and bubbles float in only one direction. Forgetting about her need for air and the gripping nymphs, she thought solely about her desired destination and swam resolutely after her air bubble trail. She never reached the surface because as the last nymph's webbed fingers slid from her skin, she was suddenly standing upon the silver dais.

Stumbling as she tensed leg muscles that had a moment ago were being held up by magic. She stared horrified at the eldest judge who had sent her there. The woman now sat looking as if she had seen a very displeasing performance.

Had she passed? It was hard to tell, that expression could mean anything. Sarah searched the crowd for her mother and when she spotted her she relaxed, seeing the look of joy on her face. She'd passed this test. She glanced to the next judge just in time to see her cut a horizontal line in the air with a finger purposefully, then Sarah felt sudden vertigo as the image of the judges dropped and she was suddenly looking over the vast scenery of a dessert valley thousands of feet below her. She jerked back and dug her fingers into the rock of the cliff side. The ledge she stood on was hardly wider than her feet were long and her knees trembled as she checked. She gulped air in her suddenly dust coated mouth and tried not to cough as the grit irritated her throat, worried the movement of a cough would heave her body over the edge. Closing her eyes and mouth she breathed in through her nose. It's okay, she was just standing there, she could take all the time she needed. Nothing was spurring her on like a lack of oxygen or nymphs and she'd rock climbed before, she'd been good, naturally nimble.

Slowly she felt across the wall behind her until she found a plant growing. Giving it a tug to check for sturdiness she gripped it as she carefully turned around on the ledge. Once she was around, she looked up and was surprised to find the cliff only went up a few more feet, and there were foot holes spotted all along the way. Mapping her route she erased, with some effort, her thoughts of the sight of the long plunge at her back and began the climb.

With her entire body pressed against the stone she felt her way up the wall until each hand and a foot were securely on a projection of rock and pulled herself up and away from her sturdy ledge. Her stomach dropped as her left foot scrambled to find an outcropping to hold her weight. The one she found wasn't large enough to support her for more than a second so she trained her eyes on her next set of hand holds and set her left foot on the sliver of rock and pushed up, hands groping for the projections. She thought she'd missed them as her left foot slid from the rock and her body jerked downwards before her fingers hooked savagely into the rocks above her, she'd gotten them in time. Taking a breath as she dangled from her fingers, she tapped her toe until she found a new protruding rock to step on and levered herself up again. Finally reaching the top, her fingers dug into rich soil and the cliff disappeared.

She'd done it again, finding her mother's face in the crowd she smiled. The judges were silent as they appraised her. Twice in a row she'd proven herself and she knew now that the look on the old woman's face was one of anger.

"Next!" she screamed.

With a nod the third judge taped the table with a finger and Sarah's skin went numb as her environment shifted to an icy plain, the brightness of light reflecting on snow forced her to squint. She coughed as the air she inhaled stabbed at her lungs like tiny needles. Covering her mouth with a hand, she began to walk.

There was no obvious obstacle here, no one to fight against. What was the task? Ignoring her lung's protest she began jogging, looking for anything in the distance. There was nothing. She jogged now simply for the warmth it was producing in her muscles. Eventually she stopped as she ran out of breath, and soon after collapsed because almost immediately after she halted, what sweat she had managed to produce had solidified to ice on her shivering body. She frantically searched for something to ease the pain but there was nothing.

Her desperation was threatening to consume her completely just as she heard a thud, and to her surprise a young man walked onto the snowy ground a few feet in front of her out of thin air. Sarah just blinked at the blond boy as he stood there. Her mind was instantly consumed with absorbing the image that so didn't fit its surroundings. With that distraction, her mind took refuge away from thoughts of fear and ice and pain.

He was so handsome, her mind thought as it struggled, his face sculpted, his body tall and lean. He noticed her staring and grinned knowingly. Such an appealing grin was all her mind could conjure. She was lost in his cold, blue gaze. As those light, almost cataract silver blue eyes drowned her, their surroundings dimmed to the light of the moody trials room. She blinked and only a halo of white was left in her vision where once an ice field had been. Once her eyes re-focused, yelling erupted.

"How dare you interrupt us when a trial is taking place!" The shrill voice of the head magistrate called out.

Sarah was surprised to see the boy from the tundra ducking into the rows of onlookers as he called back. So he was real, not an illusion.

"Many apologies Renevin, I was improperly informed about the time of the proceedings." He smiled at Sarah and took a seat next to what must have been a pretty girl judging by what she could see of her shadowed face. The boy was completely at ease under the elder's piercing glare.

Sarah smiled slightly at the posturing and took strength from his boldness when the witchy woman turned back to her.

"I call for on an immediate retry!" Renevin ordered, glaring straight into Sarah's eyes.

Sarah's face fell as she realized the woman wanted to do it all over again, when a second, hardy voice called out.

"Now now, it was a simple mistake, a second try would have tainted results and she was managing magnificently before the interruption," the jolly Sigmund called. "Let's move on, as you said earlier, we have waited eighteen years for this, why delay the final result?" His eyes twinkled as he winked at Sarah.

Renevin's lips thinned and pressed together so tightly they turned white. "Fine."

As she sat, Sigmund himself waved to Sarah, grabbing her attention, then nodded to her as his fingers danced in the direction of the roof. His fingers molded into licking flames and Sarah gasped as she was suddenly surrounded by lava. She stood on a circular island completely encompassed by red hot lava that, Sarah realized with gut wrenching certainty, was crawling higher up the banks. She searched around and on the other side of the lava was a wall of rock. Following the rock up with her eyes, her head was tilted all the way back when she finally saw the opening behind dark smoke and dust. She was standing on a tiny island, surrounded by lava, deep in a volcano.

On the plus side it wasn't nearly as hot as one might imagine, maybe her skin was still numb from the cold.

Naturally, terror began to creep up her spine, but she suppressed it before it overcame her mind. This was the forth trial and she knew this wasn't real, just an illusion, so how would she break this one? She wasn't completely sure how she had shattered any of the others. She sighed and looked at the rising lava, it was moving fast, now much closer than it had been moments before.

How hot was lava anyway? Did it matter? It was just an illusion. Wait, just an illusion… She thought back to the previous challenges. When she was in the water, what had it felt like? Now that she thought about it, had her lungs actually screamed for air? Or had it just been her mind telling her they should be screaming for air? She wasn't sure. Had the water nymphs really been trying to pull her down? No, they couldn't have been, she'd easily swum away from them. The mountain climb had been terrifying but relatively simple. What about the ice plane? The boy was what had brought her back. Thinking about the boy had led to getting out of that trial.

She examined the island and noticed it was about the size of the dais her body must have in reality been standing on, the mouth of the volcano looked like the trial room's domed skylight. Once she saw the resemblance she pictured herself still standing in that room, with her mother watching over her. The lava was inches from her feet now but she wasn't worried, it couldn't hurt her, this wasn't real.

Just like that she was back, grinning. She'd figured it out.

Murmurs of surprise and a few bursts of clapping came as the burly man Sigmund rose from his seat.

"You've passed your trials Sarah and you haven't even broken a sweat. You've faced fears and shown a clear head in difficulty, you have also shown a resistance to her illusionary attempts as seen in the manifestation of the settings you experienced. A deep ocean of groping nymphs that let got with little trouble, a plummeting cliff face with an easy climb, an arctic wilderness without a flesh hungry bear in sight and a belly of a volcano with lukewarm lava. All situations somehow less frightening than what were intended; it seems eighteen years away do not strip one of any natural ability. It seems there is no longer any possible way anyone can insist you are not a daughter of the Underground, or unfit to rule your father's kingdom at some later date."

Sarah took as silent a sigh as she could manage. It was over and she'd successfully proven herself, not just to the judges and the onlookers, but to herself, this is really who she is and where she belonged. Thinking the trial was over and waiting to be released, Sarah was surprised when a question came from the man's mouth.

"You accept your role as heir apparent to the throne of the goblin kingdom, with Queen Linda as your mother, and King Jareth as your father?"

Sarah's eyes widened. Accept him as her father? No, she couldn't. Her entire body rejected the thought as she shook her head violently, without thinking.

"Sarah!" She heard her mother call, terrified, knowing what Sarah was about to do.

"No," Sarah hissed under her breath. The thought of accepting him even just in words was impossible for her to do.

"Excuse me?"

She raised her head and spoke in a strained voice. "I do not accept Jareth the Goblin King as my father."

Whispers broke out and Sarah felt immensely better after she'd said it, but when she saw the smug expression on Renevin's face she doubted her judgment.

Renevin lifted her fragile body out of her seat, bringing silence to the room.

"It seems after all this trouble, the girl wishes to disown her heritage," her slimy voice taunted. "What a waste."

"No!" Sarah yelled. "That's not what I me-"

"If you cannot recognize the king as your father than we cannot recognize you as his daughter or his heir!" She motioned violently.

The room was silent.

Sigmund spoke up again, "Renevin, perhaps this is not a matter of politics, but of familial discourse, which is to be expected after a childhood raised apart from one's parents, especially considering the circumstances of their first meeting."

Renevin did not reply.

"I believe these circumstances deserve to be taken into account." Sigmund turned to Sarah. "Sarah, you will be given two days in which you must either come to terms with your heritage or lose the crown. You are dismissed."

-

Sarah stood in the hall outside the trials room, Linda's arms around her as she tried to hide the fact that she wanted to cry over her daughter's stubbornness. Sarah felt sick. She would be disowned if she did not publicly accept him. She'd already lost one family, she couldn't lose this one too. She finally hugged her mother back, coming out of her shock.

"It's alright mom, I'll fix this."

They were silently walking back to their carriage when Sarah saw the blond boy who'd saved her from the ice field leaning on a column, watching them. Sarah excused herself and told her mother to go on to the carriage ahead of her. Once Linda was out of sight, she went to him.

"Thank you for your help earlier." She felt like she should curtsy or something but restrained herself.

"Oh, did I help you somehow?" He was smiling slightly as he pretended to be ignorant.

Sarah knew he was playing with her. He had a familiar, playful twinkle in his eye. Not sure what to think of the strange boy or what to say to him, she bobbed slightly in what she hoped was a proper greeting and started towards her carriage. Soon after leaving the building, as she was walking the stone path to the carriages the boy came up beside her.

He skipped ahead and spun around to walk backwards in front of her. "I knew you'd do fine, your Jareth's daughter after all." He grinned down at her, very aware of how she felt of that relationship.

She refused to answer the teasing boy, she knew it would just provoke him.

Seeing that he would not be getting any satisfying response from her, he slid to the side and slowed. Just as she was passing him he whispered in her ear.

"This is going to be so much fun."

Sarah looked back bewildered as the boy stopped and she continued to move farther away. What was that about?

She'd just reached her carriage and was about to go in when she looked back in time to see the boy slip into his own carriage, followed closely by Sigmund, the judge who had sent her to the volcano, her easiest challenge. The man turned at the last moment and winked at her. Shocked she climbed into the carriage and sat next to Linda.

Linda was disheartened about the results of the trials and Sarah could see it clearly on her face. Feeling terrible for what she'd done she entwined their arms together and laid her head on her mother's shoulder.

They were almost to the castle when Sarah remembered the boy with Sigmund.

"Mom, who is that Sigmund guy?"

Linda shifted uncomfortably. "He's the head of a rival royal family dear."

Sarah shot up. "He's one of the people trying to get rid of me?"

"Not Sigmund personally, but he has obligations he must fulfill for the best interests of his family." She turned to look at Sarah. "Just as you do now."

Sarah nodded. Obligations, like accepting a father for the good of the family. "I'll do better when they come back, I'll tell them I accept him."

Linda gazed at her worriedly. "You can't lie Sarah, they will know your true feelings no matter what pretty words you use."

"I figured as much," she sighed.

Linda mused, "Kohl is a good kid but I wonder what would happen if the power really was transferred to him instead of you."

"Kohl?"

Linda nodded. "The boy who disrupted your trial, he's the one everyone wishes to take your place on the throne. He's not the most rule-abiding boy bu the is full fey..." she trailed on to herself since Sarah had stopped listening.

The blond boy was her main rival for the throne?

'This is going to be so much fun.'

Now it made terrible sense.

* * *

A/N: Please review! There should be ony 2-3 chapters to go~


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